e released and brought home with us. I was much struck
with the earnest and business-like air with which these poor animals,
which had spent some miserable nights in the jungle, expecting every
moment to be killed by a tiger, trotted along, on a line often parallel
with the party, and it somewhat reminded me of a picture I had seen in an
illustrated paper, of the hunted deer amicably trotting home with the
hounds and huntsmen. The fact was that they were determined to get home in
good time, for fear, I suppose, of being shut out of the cattle shed, and
though, just as they neared the shed, the remainder of the herd, which had
been out grazing in the neighbourhood, appeared within twenty yards, the
liberated baits got first into the shed. And now for my story showing how
easily the suspicions of the tiger are excited.

A near neighbour of mine--at least he lived ten miles off---was much
annoyed by tigers which, from the continuous nature of his large block of
evergreen forest land, he could only get at by sitting over a bait. On one
occasion he had tied out a bullock, in a piece of land of a few acres
which he had cleared in the middle of the forest, and concealed himself on
a tree. It was during the day, and the ground was covered with dried
leaves which are so brittle in the hot weather that even the scratching,
or walking of a bird can be heard some way off. Presently a large
tiger--my friend knew that he was about--made his appearance and commenced
a stalk so elaborate and careful that my friend declared it would have
been worth 1,000 rupees to a young sportsman to have witnessed it. He put
every paw down so carefully, gradually crushing the leaves under it, that
my friend, though quite close to the tiger, could not hear a sound.
Between the tiger and the bullock was the butt, about four feet high, of a
felled tree, with long projecting surface roots, and this saved the tiger
much trouble, for he got on to one of the roots, and carefully balanced
himself on it, and so without noise was able to walk quickly along till he
came to the butt which he seemed to wind round like a snake, and he then
got on to a corresponding root on the other side, and walked along that.
In short, he approached so gradually and noiselessly, and his colour
against the brown dry leaves was so invisible, that he got quite close to
the bullock before it perceived him. The moment it did so it charged, but
the tiger, avoiding the horns, swung round